Criminology and Justice Studies

About the Department

In what ways did the War on Drugs of the 1980s and 1990s impact urban communities in terms of street-corner dealing, violence, and overall health? What about national incarceration rates, and racial disparities in the adjudication process? How do so-called Three Strikes laws typically influence the decisions of judges at sentencing? How far will the War on Terrorism push the legal boundaries of government surveillance and the monitoring of electronic communications, and what will be the impacts of such forces? Finally, how are “big data” being used (now and in the future) by justice, intelligence, or private organizations to identify social networks, conduct risk assessments, and make decisions about crime policy and resource deployment?

Drexel University's Program of Criminology and Justice Studies offers a rich educational experience that emphasizes justice and criminological theory, the use of tools and data to answer big questions about crime and justice while teaching students how to translate conceptual knowledge into the state of the art practice. With its three thematic concentrations -- Criminology and Justice Policy, Justice Informatics, and Criminal Justice -- the Department of Criminology and Justice Studies offers students many pathways through which to explore a curriculum that emphasizes learning beyond the classroom in urban, global, and experiential settings.

Please click the links below to explore the degree concentrations in Criminology and Justice Studies.

Degree Concentrations

Minor in Criminal Justice

Students from any major who are interested in the law, legal issues and the forensic sciences may envision a future connection with the criminal justice system. These students could enhance their career possibilities by adding a minor in criminal justice to their major field of study.

The minor consists of four required courses and four criminal justice electives chosen from two categories, for a total of 24.0 credits.

Julia Hall, PhD(University of Pennsylvania). Professor. Criminal justice and juvenile justice reform, including community based alternatives to incarceration, correctional education and programming, reentry and reintegration, restorative justice, and issues relating to special needs offenders, including the el

Writing-intensive Requirements

In order to graduate, all students must pass three writing-intensive courses after their freshman year. Two writing-intensive courses must be in a student's major. The third can be in any discipline. Students are advised to take one writing-intensive class each year, beginning with the sophomore year, and to avoid “clustering” these courses near the end of their matriculation. Transfer students need to meet with an academic advisor to review the number of writing-intensive courses required to graduate.

For additional information, and an up-to-date list of the writing-intensive courses being offered, students should check the Drexel University Writing Center page